The Curse of Aletheia
by InkHandzz
Summary: Jasmine Reid wasn't expecting to end up like this. She didn't think that she'd end up on board the Argo II with seven strangers who didn't even know she existed. She didn't think that she would be given a gift that could eventually lead to her own death, and she *definitely* didn't plan on getting a curse that she wasn't able to get rid of... or could she?
1. Jasmine 1

*Jasmine's P.O.V.*

The minute she heard her brother walk inside of the house, Jasmine knew she was dead. Once Michael found out that she hid his favorite pair of sneakers underneath the kitchen floorboards, accidentally getting mud on them, Jasmine doubted that she would see the sun rise the next morning. However, Jasmine didn't like to dwell on that thought for long. Instead, she decided that it was time to go for a long run, and hopefully not return until late after dinner. Maybe not even until the day after. Yeah, that sounded good.

Jasmine quickly slid out through the back door and kicked off her old and torn sneakers, running barefoot towards the beach, the wind blowing through her hair. The mixture of grass, gravel, and sand underneath her toes felt so relaxing. As she ran, she tried not to think about what her mother would say once she got caught. Jasmine bet all her money that she would most likely end up grounding her and making her apologize to her brother, but not before she gave her a whole lecture on manners.

Oh, how Jasmine hated that word. Almost everything that she had done revolved around manners. Her mother treated her like she was a dog, waiting for her to be broken in. Jasmine knew her mother thought she was a disappointment. It was clear by the look on her face. Plus, she'd "accidentally" read her mother's diary before, which only confirmed her suspicions. Her mother had written all sorts of things about her in there, some of which she didn't understand, but the worst thing that she had written about her was that she was worthless. Michael always tried to rub the fact that she was worthless into her face. Sure, deep down inside, Jasmine knew she wasn't, but sometimes she felt as if it was true. Michael was obviously her mother's favorite, though she couldn't make it any more obvious. When she had some spare time alone to herself, Jasmine sometimes wondered if her life would have been different if her father was still around. Maybe she wouldn't have been treated so unfairly. Maybe her mother would actually be nice to her. Maybe, for once, she would be someone's favori-

Jasmine quickly shook that thought away from her head. That was impossible. Her father had hated her. Her mother told her so. She was the reason her father had left them the first place. He didn't want her, and then he'd decided he didn't want the rest of the family either. They were more of a burden than they were a blessing. Her mother used to boast about all the fun times that the three of them had spent together, going on cruises, traveling to different worlds, watching movies, etc. But after Jasmine was born, all of that was gone.

There weren't really that many photographs of her father in their house. Jasmine's mother had gotten rid of all of them a long time ago, supposedly even before Jasmine was born. The only thing that her father had seemed to have left behind was his notebook. It was small enough for Jasmine to hide it in her coat pocket, and, for some odd reason, it was completely written in Ancient Greek, though Jasmine didn't know why or how she knew that. She tried asking one of her Greek friends from class to decipher it, but they weren't able to. Apparently the book was much too complicated for them to understand.

While Jasmine ran she could feel the book in the pocket of her jeans. She pulled it out and clutched it as tightly as she could. Just holding it in her hands made her feel as if her father was right next to her the whole time, telling her words of encouragement and smiling at her, like she made him proud. But she knew that he never felt that way towards her. She was just a disappointment to him, her mother, pretty much everyone. Suddenly, the book felt like it was a heavy weight. Jasmine felt like throwing it out of her hands and just leaving it, but she couldn't find herself the strength to do it. She loved her father so much, even though he never loved her back.

Slowly climbing her way out of her thoughts, Jasmine reached the beach. The sun was about to set, and Jasmine stopped in her tracks to take a moment to admire how beautiful the sky looked. It was painted with different colors. Red, yellow, orange, and purple all streaked the sky. There wasn't a cloud to be seen, as if they had all disappeared. Jasmine's mouth hung open as she stared at the view. It looked absolutely _perfect_.

As she came closer and closer to the water, Jasmine felt as if she was being watched. She looked around cautiously, but didn't see anyone watching her. Everyone seemed to be minding their own business, tanning, swimming, etc. Jasmine started to relax a bit. She inched her way closer to the water, careful not to stand too close to be swallowed by a wave, but close enough for the waves to touch her feet. Jasmine wiggled her toes and felt the wet sand underneath, and tried her best not to giggle.

_Why couldn't every day be like this? _Jasmine thought.

Jasmine suddenly jumped as she heard the howling of a wolf. No, it definitely was not a wolf. The howl sounded more… humane, if it was possible for them to sound that way. Jasmine felt something pierce her shoulder, but she was too frightened to look back. She started to shiver with fear as she felt something drip down her shoulder. She let out a yelp and swatted her shoulder, turning around to find nothing there. Her shoulder was completely unharmed.

_Stop it. _Jasmine told herself. _You're just being paranoid. Everything will be alright. Just…don't think of it, whatever "it" is._

She tried to draw her attention towards the sun, which was just starting to set, but she still couldn't shake off the feeling that she was being watched. She started to hate that feeling, and as she collected sea shells (and some large rocks and sharp glass in case she needed to defend herself) she thought of different tactics on how to attack a stranger. Her best option was running, though Jasmine wasn't sure how well that might work out. She tried to think of other ideas, but her brain was fried.

About an hour and a half later, the sky was a dark blue color and the moon shined brightly, with the stars scattered all over. Jasmine was exhausted, and decided to look at all the constellations. That was something that she admired about Long Island. Besides the fact that there were many beaches, the stars almost always blanketed the sky, which made Jasmine feel as if she was living in a paradise. Sure, there weren't that many stars tonight and the sky was kind of cloudy, but the night sky still felt magical, and full of endless possibilities.

Jasmine sat down in the sand and looked up at the sky, trying to point out the few constellations that she knew. Sadly, that wasn't a lot. The only constellation that Jasmine could point out was Orion's belt. The three stars were lined up in a row, making them look like a connect-the-dots type of piece, which, if Jasmine could trace with pencil, would make a straight line. Jasmine stared at the center star, _Alnilam_, she remembered, for some odd reason.

She started to think about what it would be like to live in space, with stars all around you and meteors and comets swirling around the sky. Jasmine always wanted to go to space; it was one of her dreams She always felt like she didn't belong down here, at Earth, with everyone else. It made her feel better just to think about the thought of her living in space, though she doubted that it would ever happen. Her mother wouldn't approve of it, but then again, did Jasmine really care about what her mother would have to say about it? After all, it was Jasmine's life she was living. She could make her own choices, be her own person. Why did it matter what everyone else thought? She knew she was different, but she _liked_ being different. Being like everyone else was something that Jasmine did not plan on doing.

Jasmine was so lost in her thoughts that when she felt someone tap on her shoulder, she almost jumped out of her skin and pelted them with rocks and glass. Thankfully, she didn't, otherwise she would've been in big trouble.

"Oh," a soft voice said, giggling nervously. "I didn't mean to frighten you!"


	2. Jasmine 2

***Jasmine's P.O.V.***

Jasmine looked up and saw herself facing a tall girl with light olive skin and wavy dark brown hair which fell down to her shoulders. Her eyes were a dark brown, almost maroon, sort of color. Her lips were blood red, and her teeth were pearly white. She looked absolutely breathtaking. Jasmine immediately began to feel self-conscious at the sight of her, patting her matted dirty blonde hair so it didn't look like she'd given up on brushing it a while ago.

"Um, it's okay I guess." Jasmine stuttered, obviously alarmed by the visitor. She squeezed the shards of glass underneath her hand, ignoring the pain that seared up her arm as they penetrated her skin. She felt as if she was being watched again, but instead of by just one pair of eyes, she felt as if there were thousands. Jasmine got up from the ground, brushing off the sand on her pants and putting the shards of glass and rocks in her pant pockets.

"I just wanted to make sure you were okay." The girl went on, her voice sounding sickly sweet yet soothing at the same time. Jasmine started to feel a bit sleepy, but she quickly snapped herself awake. "I saw you staring up at the stars so intently I was afraid you were about to turn into a black hole!" she giggled.

Jasmine laughed nervously. If that was supposed to be some sort of joke, Jasmine didn't find it funny at all. She felt as if her privacy had been intruded. She wanted this girl to leave. She looked around and saw that everyone who had been at the beach before had left, leaving just her and the girl alone.

"Yeah, well I'm fine." Jasmine said, getting more and more agitated by the minute. She started to walk away slowly, but the girl stopped her.

"Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't introduce myself!" the girl squeaked. She held out her hand, and her nails were painted blood red, like the color of her lips and eyes. "I'm Lola."

Jasmine slowly shook her hand. Trying not to show the annoyance and slight tinge of fear in her tone, she said, "I'm Jasmine."

Lola giggled again. "Oh, I already knew that."

Something definitely didn't feel right. _At all._

Jasmine raised her eyebrows. "Um, how?" she asked, backing away slowly.

"Well, I came here to kill you of course!" Lola chirped.

Jasmine's eyes widened. She felt fear surge all around her veins. "Uh, excuse me?"

Lola's red eyes glowed even brighter. Her brown hair turned a fiery red color. Her teeth had suddenly transformed into fangs.

Jasmine fell backwards. "You're a v-vampire!"

Lola laughed. "Well, duh! I prefer _empousa_, but I guess "vampire" will do! Now, hold still and let me kill you."

Jasmine knew better than to listen to her, though some strange tugging sensation in her gut almost made her want to get killed. She realized that she had almost surrendered herself, though she didn't know why she did.

"There is no way I'm going to be killed by a vampire." Jasmine muttered, "I've seen enough about them in movies and books."

Lola hissed. "You know nothing about my abilities. I'm much more powerful than how these mortals depict me. You'll see once I kill you."

"Why the sudden interest in killing me?" Jasmine pressed, hoping to be able to buy herself some time. She looked around the beach to see if she could find any weapons to defend herself with. Suddenly, her hands went straight to her pant pockets.

_Of course,_ Jasmine thought. _The glass and stones._

She doubted that they would be able to kill her, though Jasmine couldn't find the strength in herself to do that. Hopefully it would be able to slow the demon down so she could run for safety.

"I was sent here by my patron to finish you." Lola said, waving it off as if it were unimportant.

"Who's your patron?" Jasmine asked, planning out an escape route. She looked at the strip of land behind the demon. There was a path leading up to the boardwalk in the distance. The lights glowed, making it feel alive, and filled with people. Hopefully she'd be able to run over there in time and call for help.

"Why do you care anyway?" Lola asked, getting a bit suspicious. Was it just Jasmine's imagination, or were the demon's teeth a faint red color?

"What, I can't ask a few questions?" Jasmine asked, slowly stepping backwards. She hoped she would be able to circle around the vampire, praying that her arms didn't grow longer and prevent her from doing so.

Lola hissed again, getting slightly impatient. "Gaea sent me."

Jasmine blinked, "Uh, who is that?" she heard the name before, but she couldn't remember from where.

"Gaea." Lola repeated, and then gestured to the ground. "The Earth Mother."

Jasmine's throat felt dry. "You mean... the ground is alive?"

Lola nodded, getting more and more impatient. "She's alive, but not completely awake. Once I cap- wait a minute." Lola said, narrowing her eyes.

"What is it?" Jasmine gulped, knowing that time was up. She had to make a run for it.

"You're stalling me!" Lola said. "That's not cool! I'm going to _kill_ you!"

"That's not going to happen anytime soon." Jasmine promised. "I'd rather be eaten by a Cyclopes."

"Oh, we can arrange that, if you'd like." Lola laughed, and then lunged for Jasmine.

Jasmine ducked, causing the vampire to tumble away from her. The demon immediately shot up from the ground and started running towards her. Jasmine noticed that she was limping, and took that as her advantage. She threw pieces of glass onto the sand and hurled rocks at the vampire. She was too busy peering over her shoulder that she didn't notice the log in front of her. She stumbled and fell, pain searing through her ankle. She was in too much pain to get up, and she started hopelessly throwing glass at the demon.

Lola slowed down, limping closer and closer to Jasmine. She smiled, and her eyes shimmered bright red. Jasmine started to find it hard to breathe.

"I can't believe it. Out of all of the ways to die, I have to get the blood sucked out of me by a stupid vampire." Jasmine said quietly, barely loud enough for Lola to hear.

"And now, dear Jasmine Reid, you will _perish_." Lola said, grinning widely like a madman.

Suddenly, the howling of the wolf sounded again. Lola looked over with alarm and fear in her eyes, and immediately started to stagger away from Jasmine. She started to gain speed and run, but Jasmine still had enough strength to throw a stone which was hard enough to knock Lola to the ground.

"Fool!" Lola hissed. "I will get my revenge on you! I promise!"

"One thing my mom taught me," Jasmine said, "Was to never make promises that you couldn't keep. Tonight, both of us die."

The howling of the wolf came closer. Suddenly, Jasmine was able to see the creature in the distance. The wolf's hair was black, but shimmered silver in the moonlight. On top of the wolf was a man – no, a boy – who rode on his back, carrying a sword. The sword wasn't made up of any metal that Jasmine had seen before. It shimmered with a faint gold glow in the light.

The wolf let out another howl, and they charged down the hill, straight towards Jasmine and Lola.

* * *

***Note* **

**I hope you're enjoying the story so far! Be sure to leave a review about what you think!**


	3. Jasmine 3

Jasmine was too paralyzed with fear to even move. Her eyes were glued onto the wolf, the distance between the two of them growing smaller and smaller as each second slowly ticked by. Finally, after she was able to recover, she started to fumble and crawl away. Her ankle heart so badly, she tried not to cry out in pain. Out of all the ways there were to die, Jasmine knew that she did _not_ want it to be this way.

She saw Lola out of the corner of her eye, trying to crawl away quickly, but with no success. The rock had done more damage to her than Jasmine had thought it would have, which made her feel a tinge of guilt inside.

_Why should I feel bad? _Jasmine thought, trying to shake the guilt away. _She was the one that was going to kill me. It was simply out of self defense! I would have died!_

Looking at the situation that she now faced, Jasmine knew she would have died either way.

The wolf and his rider were coming faster and faster, and Jasmine felt as if she could smell the scent of death on the wolf's tongue.

Trying her best to crawl away with a broken ankle, Jasmine felt as if she was about to die any second. She decided not to think much of the pain, and furiously pulled her body away from the wolf. More pain seared up her leg, and Jasmine collapsed onto the ground. Whatever strength that had remained inside of her was sucked away, replaced with pure exhaustion. Jasmine couldn't move any more, no matter how hard she tried.

She watched in complete shock as the wolf approached Lola and clawed at her, ripping holes in her stomach. Jasmine tried not to gag. There was something completely shocking yet thrilling by watching it. Jasmine almost started rooting for the wolf, but then remembered he was about to kill her any second. Jasmine then watched as the rider cut through Lola's side with her sword. The demon immediately turned into dust, and disappeared into the night sky, light gold pollen.

Jasmine let out a sigh of relief.

_Finally, _she thought, _that demon is finally gone._

She immediately regretted it later, when the wolf and his rider had both turned their attention to her.

Slowly, the wolf approached her, his bloodthirsty eyes glaring at her as he bared his fangs, the leader walking behind him, holding his sword in his hand. It definitely was made up with some form of material Jasmine had never seen before. It shimmered brightly in the moonlight. Jasmine thought it looked kind of pretty, but then realized that in less than two minutes it would be right through her heart.

Jasmine tried not to panic, though she didn't know how that was possible due to what events had went on today. She tried remembering some tricks on how to avoid dog attacks, none of them being very helpful with the situation of her broken ankle.

"Great," Jasmine muttered. "I'll lie here hopelessly as a dog makes a meal out of me."

The wolf stopped for a second. Jasmine hoped that it wasn't because he was insulted by the fact that she just called him a dog. To her relief, it wasn't because of that. Something else had caught the wolf's attention. He peered over her shoulder, and Jasmine turned around and her eyes widened.

After what happened next, Jasmine didn't know what to believe.

Behind her was an enormous Greek trireme. An enormous dragon stared back at Jasmine with its shiny red eyes. It shot out a few flames of fire into the air, illuminating the night sky. It then made a few creaking noises which Jasmine didn't understand, until she realized it must have been communicating with her... or at least trying to. As far as Jasmine knew, she didn't speak whatever language the dragon seemed to be speaking.

Jasmine then turned back around and her eyes nearly shot out of their sockets.

The wolf had suddenly transformed into a boy. He looked tall and muscular, and he seemed to radiate power all around him. Looking at his presence made Jasmine feel a little agitated, though she didn't know why. He looked Asian, and his face was painted with determination. He walked towards Jasmine, who was still too weak and shocked to even move. The rider walked behind him, and Jasmine could see his blonde hair shimmer in the moonlight.

The wolf-man was within twenty feet of Jasmine, when he yelled, "Who are you?"

Jasmine stuttered, "J-Jasmine." she said. She silently cursed at herself for breaking her ankle.

Wolf-Man suddenly tensed, as if Jasmine's name had brought up some horrid memory to him. He turned towards Rider. "It's her... but how can it be?"

Rider shrugged his shoulders, and came closer. As he came closer, Jasmine could make out some small details about him. His hair was close cropped and blonde, and his eyes were an electric blue color. Looking at him made Jasmine feel like she was being struck with lightning. She tried to control her heartbeat, but she was in so much panic she felt as if she was going to explode.

As if he could sense her fear, Rider held out his hands. "Don't worry, we won't hurt you. We're friends... right Frank?"

Frank grunted, "More or less, I suppose at this point."

Rider nodded, "Can't really argue with that."

Jasmine tried her best to stand up, but her ankle was in so much pain. She let out a gasp as she tried to get up.

"Your ankle's too messed up." Rider pointed out. "You won't be able to walk on it for a few days."

"We could give her some ambrosia." Frank offered, "It may or may not kill her, but it can still help."

Jasmine cleared her throat. "Um, yeah, listen. I would very much like to stay alive, thank you very much."

Rider regarded her with a sly smile, as if he found her amusing. "You're right. Plus, we need you alive."

"Dead or alive, it doesn't really matter." Frank said.

"Frank," Rider said, "Head back to the ship. Tell Piper to bring down some nectar and ambrosia. We may need to carry her to the ship, so tell Leo to bring it closer, if he can."

Frank nodded. "Will do, Jason." He ran back towards the hill where he came from, transforming into a wolf and disappearing into the darkness.

Jason watched as he disappeared and then turned his attention back towards Jasmine. He studied her, and Jasmine started to feel self-conscious again.

"What's going on?" Jasmine finally brought herself to ask.

Jason looked at her, as if he wasn't sure either. "A lot at the moment, just trust me when I say everything's going to be all right.

Jasmine looked at him, "I haven't even known you for ten minutes. How am I supposed to trust you?"

"Would you rather trust a bunch of monsters who would kill you at any second?" Jason asked, as if he knew Jasmine's answer before she did.

Unable to speak, Jasmine remained silent. Instead, she looked up at the stars and made a silent prayer.

_Please, _she begged, _don't let me die just yet._

Jason looked over at the hill, watching as the ship came closer. The shiny red eyes of the dragon grew brighter and brighter as it approached them.

"Welcome aboard to the Argo II, Jasmine."


End file.
